The New Mexico men’s tennis team hits the courts Friday to open the fall season, but its nationally-ranked doubles team will first head to Tulsa, Oklahoma to compete in the ITA All-American Championships.
New head coach Ben Dunbar said he will accompany Hayden Sabatka and Bart Van Leijsen to compete in the tournament. Sabataka and Van Leijsen are the No. 15 doubles pairing in the nation, according to the ITA preseason rankings.
The doubles team has already qualified for the main draw and will attempt to advance in singles competition, as well.
The ITA All-American Championships run from Oct. 1-10, and if the duo advances deep enough into the tournament, they won't be back in Albuquerque for Friday’s Balloon Fiesta Invitational.
Dunbar said he hopes that is the case, and new assistant coach Robin Goodman is prepared to coach the local tournament solo, where the rest of the team will begin the season.
The invitational is expected to feature a field consisting of multiple schools from around the Southwest.
Goodman joined the staff about a month ago, and brings some stellar credentials along with him. Dunbar said the new assistant has extensive knowledge of the game and is no stranger to working with some of the best players in the country.
“He’s coming from Baylor, where he was the volunteer assistant for the last two years,” Dunbar said. “In his first year at Baylor, he made a final four and then this last year, he was coaching the number one player in the country (Julian Lenz).”
The new head coach said the players on the team have enjoyed having someone from outside the program take a look at them. Goodman apparently still plays at a high level too, and can get out there and mix it up in practice.
Though there are new faces on the coaching staff, not much else has changed. The Lobos lost Augustus Ge, who was a strong starter, but he is the only loss from last season’s roster.
Nearly half of the men’s 2016-2017 schedule will be against schools that were nationally-ranked last season, but that is also nothing new for the team.
New Mexico played some of the top programs in the country last season, and used that experience to bounce back from a shaky start and earn a high seed in the Mountain West Conference Championships.
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Dunbar said the men have been working so hard, and now they’ll finally get a chance to take it to the court and reap the rewards.
“The way I see it, they’ve kind of been like a dog on a leash,” Dunbar said. “And we’re about to let them off the leash.”
He said everything that takes place in the fall will be building towards spring tennis. Dunar said he doesn’t expect, or even necessarily want, anyone to be playing their best tennis right away.
The head coach said they would rather work out the kinks now and continue grinding and pushing to get better.
“We’re going to keep pushing, and even when we have success, we’re going to keep pushing,” he said.
Dunbar said everyone on the team has a fantastic opportunity and should consider themselves lucky to be coaches and student athletes for New Mexico.
He said the team has unbelievable facilities and everything they need to be successful—and it could all start this weekend.
“These guys, Hayden and Bart, they genuinely have the tools to go and win this tournament…and that would be a great start to the year, obviously,” Dunbar said.
Robert Maler is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.
